Google TV

The online Google Store's Android TV collection expands with NVIDIA SHIELD, a device built primarily for gaming but made for full living-room entertainment with Android apps of all sorts. Working with Android TV, this device also has Chromecast functionality, allowing mobile devices to "cast" content wirelessly. This is the same device we reviewed earlier this year, calling it "the best Android TV experience yet." Have a peek at our full NVIDIA SHIELD Review to learn all there is to know about this high-powered TV-controlling machine.

Name five devices that run on Google's Android TV operating system. If you managed to do that without hurriedly running to a Google search, you are a rare breed. Ask the average user, even someone who is a longtime Android user, and you will probably get a blank stare.

Google TV was always kind of there, but never really any good. After suffering with clumsy, expensive set top boxes and an almost total lack of support, Google has finally taken it off life support. Google promises that existing apps and services created for Google TV will live on, as will all Google TV hardware and software, but Developer tools have been pulled. Google is even porting devices as they can, saying “a small subset of Google TV devices will be updated to Android TV.”

It's fair to say that Google TV wasn't exactly a triumph in the living room. Google's first attempt to dominate home entertainment turned out to be far too complicated and under-supported, and with hardware partners jumping ship, the project stalled. Now, Android TV has arrived to take a second shot at the domestic big-screen, and first impressions are surprisingly positive.

Google is rebooting its ambitions in the living room, launching Android TV. "In some ways, the TV space is not much different to the mobile space in 2006," Google pointed out, with smart TVs all having different interfaces, different sets of apps, and no cohesive ways for developers to create one app for all platforms. Android TV aims to change all that.

Gaming is suggested to be the center of attention this year at Google’s presentation of Android TV. Where in past years, Google TV kept Android’s focus - since 2010, as it were - this year it’s tipped from within that Android TV will finally appear in full. With a user interface codenamed "Pano", this UI will take Google to your big screen - again.

Google is readying a renewed attempt on the living room with Android TV, leaked internal documents suggest, ditching the ill-fated Google TV and trying to put content rather than individual services at the fore. The new platform, app support for which Google is supposedly courting developers for now, takes a more simplistic approach than the confusing Google TV, with a straightforward thumbnail interface and a background engine for recommended content.

Electronics and appliances manufacturer Hisense this week announced two new products. The main offering is the H6 smart TV, which relies on a Marvell HD media processor and Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean). The Pulse PRO, which also runs Android 4.2.2, brings the Hisense smart TV suite of software and services to any HD TV. Pricing details and official images were not released.

Despite having been around for a while now, Google TV has never taken off in a big way, and some speculated that Chromecast would serve to replace it. Google's Sundar Pichai put such concerns to rest in July, however, saying that Google TV would live on as a "full-fledged Android for TV." While the company's intentions with its television platform haven't changed, word has surfaced that the Internet giant has dropped the Google TV brand, replacing it with a rebranding of "Android TV."

The gang over the FCC has done us a solid and offered up some images and details of the Sony NSZ-GU1 TV dongle. The first details about this device surfaced earlier in the month and the FCC filing has now been updated with more details and pictures. The Sony TV dongle is the first new Google TV hardware seen since Chromecast launched.

Readying itself for the likes of Chromecast, PlayStation 4 (already on PS3), Google TV, and more, YouTube has been updated this week in its iOS and Android forms. This app already allowed the user to play any and all (save no-mobile) videos with ease, now the app will allow users to watch a video or Cast a video. This added bit of functionality had worked with devices like the Nexus Q and PlayStation 3 and Google TV in the past, but here we're seeing a "preview" screen appearing along with the ability to add said video to a queue.

Do not worry that your Google TV will be losing support now that Chromecast has been introduced - on the contrary. This week none other than Google's Sundar Pichai spoke up in an interview confirming and denying several points on Chromecast specifically, making clear the idea that Google TV and Chromecast will exist as separate entities. In fact, Pichai, explained, Google TV will continue to expand as "full-fledged Android for television", complete with Chromecast support.